https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADjNBgL_VcA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Robinson
Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr. (May 18, 1937 – September 26, 2023) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. Nicknamed "the Human Vacuum Cleaner", "Mr. Hoover", and "Mr. Oriole", he is generally considered to have been the greatest defensive third baseman in major league history.[1] An 18-time All-Star, he won 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards, setting a record later tied by Jim Kaat and broken by Greg Maddux (both of whom were pitchers, leaving Robinson with the record amongst players at every other defensive position). His 2,870 career games at third base not only exceeded the closest player by nearly 700 games when he retired, but also remain the most games by any player in major league history at a single position. His 23 seasons spent with a single team set a major league record since matched only by Carl Yastrzemski.
Joining the Orioles as a teenager in 1955, Robinson became the centerpiece of the team as they posted the best record in the major leagues between 1965 and 1974, capturing four American League (AL) pennants and two World Series titles. He was named the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1964 after posting career highs with a .317 batting average, 28 home runs, and 118 runs batted in (RBIs), leading the AL in the last category. In 1966, he finished second in the MVP voting behind teammate Frank Robinson after again posting 100 RBIs as the Orioles won the pennant, before sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers for the team's first Series title.
In the 1970 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Robinson drew wide attention with his strong defensive play, time after time robbing Cincinnati players of base hits, and drove in runs in the first four games; his performance won him the World Series MVP Award as Baltimore defeated the Reds in five games. In 1971 he became one of just 12 players to earn over $100,000 annually. Robinson led AL third basemen in fielding percentage eleven times and in assists eight times, both major league records, and in putouts and double plays three times each. He still holds major league records for career putouts (2,697), assists (6,205), total chances (9,165), and double plays (618) at third base, with each total being between 13% and 20% higher than the closest player. His career fielding percentage of .971 was a major league record until 2006, and remains the top AL mark.
Upon his retirement during the 1977 season, his 2,896 games and 10,654 at bats each ranked fifth in major league history, behind only Ty Cobb among AL players, and his 2,848 hits ranked seventh in AL history. From 1969 to 1980, he held the AL record for career home runs by a third baseman. He set franchise records for career games, at bats, hits, runs (1,232), RBIs (1,357), doubles (482), total bases (4,270), and home runs by a right-handed hitter (268), all of which were later broken by Cal Ripken Jr. Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 in his first year of eligibility, a first for third basemen. Following his playing career, he served as a broadcaster for the Orioles and also joined Opening Day Partners, who own several minor league teams. Robinson remained popular with Oriole fans for his kindness and patience with them. "Never has a player meant more to a franchise and more to a city than Brooks has meant to the Orioles and the city of Baltimore," said Oriole historian Ted Patterson.
Growing up a Detroit Tigers fan, the Orioles were often the strongest contenders in our division each year.
Amazingly, the Tigers had a player very much like Brooks. Al Kaline!
Ironically, Kaline grew up in Baltimore and like Brooks, entered the major league right out of high school, then played for the same team their entire career!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Kaline
Albert William Kaline (/ˈkeɪlaɪn/ KAY-line; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers.[1] For most of his career, Kaline played in the outfield, mainly as a right fielder where he won ten Gold Glove Awards and was known for his strong throwing arm.[2] He was selected to 18 All-Star Games, including selections each year between 1955 and 1967. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, his first time on the ballot.[1][3]
Near the end of his career, Kaline also played as first baseman and, in his last season, was the Tigers' designated hitter. He retired soon after reaching the 3,000 hit milestone late in the 1974 season. Immediately after retiring from playing, he became the Tigers' TV color commentator, a position he held from 1975 until 2002. Kaline worked for the Tigers as a front office assistant from 2003 until his death in 2020.[4]
Kaline was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Naomi (Morgan) and Nicholas Kaline.[5] His family was poor. Several of his relatives played semi-professional baseball, but no one in the family had graduated from high school. When he was eight years old, Kaline developed osteomyelitis and had two inches of bone removed from his left foot.[6] The surgery left him with scarring and permanent deformity, but he was an outstanding pitcher in youth baseball.[7] Kaline had learned to throw a fastball, changeup and curveball by the age of nine.[8]
Kaline attended Baltimore's Southern High School, where he starred in basketball and also played football until he sustained a cheek injury. When he tried out for the baseball team, there was no room on the pitching staff so Kaline moved to the outfield.[8] He earned all-state honors in baseball all four years.[7] Kaline said that he was a poor student but that he was well-liked by his teachers. He said that his teachers passed him, believing he would become a baseball player.[9]
Kaline bypassed Minor League Baseball and joined the Tigers directly from high school as an 18-year-old "bonus baby" signee, receiving $35,000 ($382,823 in 2020 dollars) to sign with the team.[10][11] The Detroit scout who had tracked him through high school, Ed Katalinas, said, "To me he was the prospect that a scout creates in his mind and then prays that someone will come along to fit the pattern."[12]
He made his major league debut on June 25, 1953 in Philadelphia as a late-inning replacement for outfielder Jim Delsing. Kaline wore number 25 during his rookie campaign, but asked teammate Pat Mullin for his No. 6 after the 1953 season ended. Kaline wore the number for the rest of his major league playing career.[13]
In 1955, at age 20, Kaline ended the season with a .340 batting average, becoming the youngest player ever to win the American League (AL) batting title. No 20-year-old major league player had won a batting title since Ty Cobb in 1907. During the 1955 season, Kaline became the 13th man in major league history to hit two home runs in the same inning, became the youngest to hit three home runs in one game, and finished the year with 200 hits, 27 home runs and 102 runs batted in (RBIs).[1][14] His 200 hits led the major leagues, and he also led the American League with 321 total bases. Kaline finished second to Yogi Berra in the American League's 1955 Most Valuable Player Award voting.[15] He was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the first in a string of consecutive All-Star selections that lasted through 1967.[1]
One of our favorite memories during the 1960s/70s and this time frame battling the Orioles for the division championships was when Billy Martin coached the Tigers in the early 70's!
This guy was unreal for numerous reasons!
Extremely brilliant/gifted but extremely volatile and personal behavior burdened!
His entire life as a player and manager stands out from anybody else that has ever been associated with MLB.
However great Martin was as a manager, his temper was even greater.
There are dozens of amazing facts and his many fights take the spotlight. When you read this below, it's mind boggling that the guy kept coming back over and over and over after incidents that for anybody else would have ended their careers but it was crystal clear inside of MLB, that nobody was a better manager and nobody could win more games with the team they were given. In my strong opinion, he was the best manager, when looking at just game strategy, then anybody in our lifetime.
https://baseball.fandom.com/wiki/Billy_Martin
Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. (May 16 1928 – December 25 1989) was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times. As Yankees manager, he led the team to consecutive American League pennants in 1976 and 1977; the Yankees were swept in the 1976 World Series by the dynastic Cincinnati Reds but triumphed over the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the 1977 World Series. He also had notable managerial tenures with several other AL squads, leading four of them to division championships.
As a manager, Martin was known for turning losing teams into winners, and for arguing animatedly with umpires, including a widely parodied routine in which he kicked dust on their feet. However, he was criticized for not getting along with veteran players and owners, burning out young pitchers, and for having a drinking problem.
One story that few people know about Martin. Is the Ron LeFlore story. Billy got him out of prison to be a Detroit Tiger. The Ron LeFlore story, by itself was one of a kind and Billy Martin is the one that made it happen. Jovan will love that one below too!
When they did the movie featuring Ron LeFlore with LaVar Burton playing Ron, Billy Martin played himself as well as many other Tigers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_LeFlore
Ronald LeFlore (born June 16, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseballcenter fielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos. LeFlore retired with the Chicago White Sox in 1982. He stole 455 bases in his career and was an American League All-Star selection in 1976.
A movie and book were made about LeFlore's rise to the major leagues after being an inmate at the Jackson State Penitentiary. One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was a made-for-television movie starring LeVar Burton that aired on CBS in 1978. LeFlore is the cousin of former MLB outfielder Todd Steverson.
LeFlore was born in Detroit, Michigan, and was involved in the criminal justice system at an early age. Although his parents John and Georgia LeFlore were married, his father was an unemployed alcoholic who rarely took part in family life. His mother was a hard-working nurses' aide who held the family together financially and physically, even feeding Ron while he was a heroin addict and small-time drug dealer. He credits his mother's compassion for his survival during this period. He attended Detroit's Eastern High School.[1]
He was introduced to shooting heroin in a neighborhood 'shooting gallery'. He dropped out of school and spent many nights breaking into the Stroh's Brewery on Gratiot Avenue, stealing beer and getting drunk with friends. After dropping out of school, he did not play any organized sports and rarely followed the Tigers, although he had been to Tiger Stadium at least once in childhood, sitting in the upper bleachers with his father. First arrested at 15, he was ultimately sentenced to 5–15 years in state prison at the State Prison of Southern Michigan (usually called Jackson State Penitentiary) for armed robbery of a local bar in January 1970 in which he carried a rifle.[2]
Incarcerated on April 28, 1970, the first organized baseball league LeFlore played in was for inmates. Jimmy Karalla, a fellow inmate who was imprisoned for extortion, convinced his longtime friend Jimmy Butsicaris who co-owned a Detroit bar frequented by Detroit sports celebrities, to speak to his good friend Billy Martin, then-manager of the Detroit Tigers, to ask him to observe LeFlore.[2][3] Martin visited Jackson State Prison on May 23, 1973.[2] Martin then helped LeFlore get permission for day-parole and a tryout at Tiger Stadium in June.
In July 1973 the Tigers signed LeFlore to a contract which enabled him to meet the conditions for parole. He was paid a $5,000 bonus and $500 per month for the rest of the 1973 season.[2] Assigned to the Clinton Pilots in the Class AMidwest League, and managed by Jim Leyland, LeFlore hit .277.[4]
The next year he played for the Lakeland Tigers in the Class A Florida State League, and after hitting .331 with 45 steals in 102 games was promoted to the Evansville Triplets of the Class AAAAmerican Association, where he played nine games.
The following season, he made the major league club out of spring training.
LeFlore split time in center field in 1974 with veteran Tiger Mickey Stanley before taking over as the starter in 1975. Largely known as a base stealer, in his prime he also hit for average and moderate power. He, along with Mark Fidrych, were the primary reasons that the Tigers' attendance rose in 1976 by close to 5,000 per game over the previous year. Both players made the 1976 American League All-Star team, yet the team never finished higher than fourth in the American League East standings during LeFlore's tenure. In 1977, he hit 16 home runs and batted .325 – both career highs. But 1978 may have been his career year, when he led the league in singles (153), runs scored (126) and stolen bases (68), and finished second in hits (198), plate appearances (741) and at bats (666).[5] He also set career highs in games played, plate appearances, at bats, RBIs, and walks.
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078035/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htfyVBR-FeU
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Here's the entire movie (Ron LeFlore story)
No doubt, mcfarm knows all these guys and their amazing stories!
MM, do not forget the short but amazing story of the "bird" , Denny Mc clain, Norm cash,and the all-star nite when Reggie Jackson hit the light poles over 500 feet away with a home run in deep right center in Detroit
Also if you get a chance try to find Ken singleton's wonderful words as he explains what a terrific person Brook Robinson was and what he meant to the Baltimore area. It bring tears to your eyes.
Speaking of Denny McLain.
I was in the right field bleachers for his 31st and final win at Tiger Stadium in September 1968.(Detroit won the World Series that year too).
Also Mickey Mantles last game at Tiger stadium(why my dad took me).
A very unusual story evolved between McLain and Mantle that day.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/84664/#84713
yes, thanks that reminder